Safety at Khadra's
by sexy-ferret
Summary: Hermione Granger, heartbroken and distraught, decides to leave England for a remote town in Scotland because of a little misunderstanding. Draco Malfoy must now try to win her back before she leaves and makes one of the biggest mistakes of her life-running away from her problems.
1. Chapter 1: Waiting for the Train

**The inspiration for this story came one day while my friend Khadra and I were talking about people's names being in stories. I told her that I would usually read any book that had my name in it. Since her name is so unique she said that she had never read a book with her name in it. I promised her that I would write a story with her name in and well here it is. So sit back, enjoy the story, and feel free to drop a review or two.**

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The train blew a warning whistle; ten minutes until it was time to leave. Hermione Granger decided that she would try and escape her problems in the only way she could think of: a one way ticket to a remote village in Scotland. Even though it seemed like a cowardly thing to do, to her it truly brought out people's feelings and opinions. If who she wanted to follow her came then it would really show that they cared about her.

With only a vague note left behind that didn't even state where she was going, Hermione left her house on an early October morning. The dreary weather fit her mood perfectly. The best part was that no one would be able to follow her. Even if they did, by the time they got there it would most likely be too late and the train would be gone or just leaving the station. Three days earlier she had called her friend from Scotland, Khadra de Pomario, to ask if she could stay with her once she go was one of her closest friends so she had said yes. With the few minutes she had left she thought back on what had made her decide to leave in the first place.

** _3 weeks earlier_ **

Dinner with her boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, had been lovely yet again. He acted like the perfect gentleman. He took her to one of the finest restaurants she had ever been to and she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. Afterwards they walked back to her flat at a leisurely pace hand in hand and just talked. Even though they had been dating for almost a year she still couldn't get used to how kind he was being to her. When they reached her door he let go of her hand and brought his arm around her waist. Seconds later their lips met in a sweet yet passionate kiss.

Moments later Draco pulled away, "So did you have fun tonight?"

"Tonight was absolutely wonderful Draco. I hope we can do this again really soon."

"How about I come over after we finish our shifts and we can go out to a movie or something."

Hermione nodded her head and Draco smiled before leaning down to give her a quick, chaste kiss. He stepped back and apparated away with a 'pop' leaving Hermione standing there with a silly grin on her lips.

She turned and unlocked her door and walked inside. Setting her purse down on her coffee table and went into her bedroom tonged ready for bed. Once she was settled in bed she read for a little bit before turning off the light and drifting into a peaceful sleep.

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**Don't worry there is more to come, in the meantime i have a job for you to do dear readers: I am in the process of writing a new story but I need _your_ help! Go to my page and vote for which fairy tale you think Hermione should get stuck in.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Story Behind Everything

**Hey readers! I want to thank each and every one of you for reading and favouriting this story. Sorry it took a little bit to get this next part up; I have everything written down I just don't have the energy to type it up. This next part it dedicated once again to my friend Khadra. I may update again later to day but I am not sure at this point. So without further adieu the next part of Safety at Khadra's**

_**flashback continued**_

The next morning Hermione walked into her office bright and early. She had gone to work early every day since she started dating Draco. As she was walking over to get her paperwork for the day she overheard a snippet of a few of her co-workers who had also come early.

"-poor girl still doesn't know that it was just a bet."

"Well no one thought that Draco would string her along for _this_ long." Hermione froze in place waiting to hear more of the women's conversation. She knew that they shouldn't be gossiping in the office but at the same time she wanted them to continue so she could find out why they were talking about her boyfriend.

"It was wrong for him to agree to that bet in the first place. Hermione doesn't deserve to be treated like some object that is there to fight over."

"What were the conditions for the bet anyways?" Hermione's ears perked up in anticipation-and also slight dread- with what was about to be said.

"Well, all I know is that he had two months to get Hermione to go on at least on date a week and then he would win some rare one of a kind firewhiskey along with 10 galleons." When she heard that her temper spiked up high and hot angry tears pricked her eyes. She ran away as quietly as she could holding back the tears that were threatening to fall.

She ran right past some co-workers and down to the flooing area where workers come and go throughout the day. As she passed several people all eyes were drawn to her fleeing figure. There was a short silence in the flooing area before everyone went back to what they were doing.

What Hermione never heard her co-workers say was that when it came time for the bet to end Draco never accepted the reward because he realised that he had fallen in love with the bushy haired girl.

Later on after the work shift ended, Draco came by her house. Apparently her emotional outburst had been the highlight of everyone's conversation. Draco was very concerned and had spent most of his day wondering why Hermione had gone home crying. When he got to her door he knocked and patiently waited for an answer. Moments later the door opened to reveal a puffy eyed, dishevelled Hermione.

"Oh, it's you." Hermione started to close the door but Draco stuck his foot in the way.

"I have two questions for you Hermione; one: why do you look like you've been crying all day? And two: why do you look like you want to kill me?"

"So, when were you going to tell me that this entire relationship was a dare?" Draco's face filled with shock and then guilt when Hermione looked at him with sadness. To her the entire relationship was a sham. The young witch's eyes shone with unshed tears.

"Hermione, I-," Draco started to explain everything.

"No. Leave, Draco. Now. If you think that I'm going to listen to some half-arsed excuse then you are wrong. Apparently I was stupid to think that we would ever have anything real. Glad to know you thought of us as a silly little bet." With that she shoved his foot out of the way and slammed the door in his stunned face. He could hear the sound of several locks clicking and then the sound of her whispering something and a silencing charm being placed on the door.

After the door had been shut Draco started didn't know _where_ he was going exactly but he knew that he just couldn't go home right away. There were too many happy memories there. On his way to wherever he was headed he started thinking about the huge mistake he had made. The last few months with Hermione had in fact been very real to him and was not a joke at all. Now all he wanted was Hermione's forgiveness.

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**I am in the process of writing the third chapter right now. At first this was supposed to be just a one shot but I felt it flowed better as a story with a few chapters, so at this point I am sort of just winging it. In the meantime I have a job for you beloved readers: I am in the process of writing a new story but I need _your_ help! Go to my page and vote for which fairy tale you think Hermione should get stuck in.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Whole Story Told

**Alright here's chapter 3! I am not sure how long this story will end up being. i keep getting all these ideas in my head. I will have this finish in the next two weeks though-it's a surprise for my friend when she gets back from vacation. As always feel free to leave a review. Umm...oh yeah! Vote for what fairy tale my next story will take place in. This chapter is for khadra!**

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Over the next few days after sending Draco away numerous gifts and letters were being sent to her house. She decided against going back to work and took a leave of absence for a little bit. After much contemplation Hermione decided that it was time to move out of England and start a new life somewhere else. The next couple of hours were spent outing over different guidebooks to find a place that would suit her finicky tastes. Several hours later she came to the conclusion that Scotland would be the perfect place to live.

Now came the part of figuring out where she was going to stay. Hogwarts was on one side of Scotland so she figured that she should relocate to a place further from there so no one would be able to find her. She went back to the guidebook and found a map of the country; there was a large red circle that represented where Hogwarts was located. Scattered around the map were smaller blue circles with names that showed where various friends lived. There was one circle that was furthest away from Hogwarts and everyone else; that was where her friend Khadra lived. Hermione decided that she would live in that area-not only was the scenery beautiful but the small town was far far away from cities and everything else. It would be perfect! A shrill ringing interrupted her thoughts, someone was calling her_. I hope Draco hasn't figured out how to use a telephone yet_, she thought miserably to herself.

"Hello?" A female voice was on the other end.

"Hey, Hermione. It's Khadra. How is everything going with that new boy of yours?" Thankfully she was done crying and wouldn't break down at the mention of HIS name.

"We actually just broke up. Listen while I have you on the phone do you think I can ask a favour of you?"

"Yeah, what is it you wanted? I still owe you for saving my family and I when Voldemort came to kill us."

"Well I was thinking about moving over by you and was wondering if I could stay with you for a bit while I find a place and get settled." Hermione cradled the phone between her head and shoulder and started cleaning up all the guidebooks and papers on the table.

"That would be totally okay with me! It's just Alan and me right now. Plus he's always away at training most of the week so it gets pretty lonely during the day. It would be nice to have a friend down here."

Hermione squealed with joy. Now she could get the fresh start she wanted and she would never have to see Draco again!

"Okay that's great! When would be a good time for me to head down there? I don't have much to pack so it will only take about two days."

"Any day is fine. I can't wait to see you again, I have so much to tell you!"

"I will come down in two days then. When I get my train ticket I'll owl you and tell you when and where I am arriving. See you soon Khadra!"

"See you in two days Hermione. Good-bye!" With that Hermione hung up the phone and immediately started packing her things. Instead of packing things by wand she would do things the muggle way, it would relax her immensely.

Five hours later Hermione was about one third of the way done with all her packing. All of her belongings were being sorted into separate piles according to what she was going to bring with her to Khadra's and what would be put into storage until she bought a new place. Anything that was in the storage pile would be shrunk down to fit in one convent and small box the day that her train would leave. Getting on her computer she went on the Internet to buy a ticket. Her train was scheduled to leave two days from that day at 11:00 in the morning.

She shut her computer off and went to go write a letter to send to Khadra. Watching her owl go off into the distance Hermione decided to make some dinner and then go back to her packing. Later on in bed she thought back on how much her life had changed in the past year. She had found and lost love and matured a little bit more as the result. With those thoughts still in her mind she fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning was spent finishing up all of her packing. By lunch time there wasn't much left to pack. Her thoughts had wandered to Harry and Ron. Both of the boys had gone on a trip to America to do some kind of training program for the ministry. They are scheduled to be back by the end of the week. Hermione starts worrying about what would happen if they come over only to find her house empty. In that instant she decided that she would write a letter explaining everything. If Draco also found a way to get into her house by the time she had gone on a train at least he wouldn't go totally ballistic. He would know where she was just not the exact location. Hermione pulled out some parchment and her favourite pen.

_ To whomever is reading this note,_

_ I have decided that it is time for a fresh start. That is why one day from now I will be moving to Scotland. I am not saying where I will be living but it will be far from cities and harder to contact me. Once I get everything settled in I may get a floo system put in but it's not likely. I will still visit during the holidays but I don't plan on moving back for a while. I have put my house up for rent and the floo has been shut down and the wards are still in place. I know that it is a sudden move but I feel that it is what's best for me. London is too crowded and noisy and I would like to be in a small quiet town where almost no one knows me. Harry and Ron, if it's you that is reading this then I will owl you as soon as I get settled in. Ginny, keep those boys in line! I can guarantee they won't last very long without me there to tell them what not to do. Well I think that is all, like I said I will be in touch soon. Ginny if you happen to read this early then I expected you to my train leaves on the 17 of October at 11 in the morning. I will miss you all very much._

_ Love,_

_ Hermione_

The note seemed satisfying enough so Hermione pinned it up on the fridge and put a charm on it so that it would light up when someone besides her walked into the apartment. She then went back to packing and managed to finish everything by dinner time. Now the rest of the night can be devoted entirely to relaxing and doing a final check before she left for Scotland tomorrow.

Sleep that night came easily to her. After eight and a half dreamless hours she got up and prepared to leave for the train station. Even though she arrived an hour early it gave her extra time just in case she forgot something. Now all that was left to do was wait for the train to arrive.

_ **end flashback**_

Hermione's train of thought took her right up to this moment in time. Now there were only a few minutes left until the train was to leave. She got up and went to find a seat on the train-a window seat so that she was less likely to get motion sickness-once settled in all that was left was to count the seconds until the train left. Finally she heard the sound of the conductor saying 'all aboard' and everyone quickly finding a spot on the train. Then the whistle blew and the train started pulling pit of the station. She looked down at the people standing on the platform. Just as the train was about to turn the corner leaving the platform out of sight, Hermione thought she saw a flash of white blond hair among the crowd of people.

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**Well what did you think? Leave a review for me and give me your opinion good or bad. I am in such a good mood right now (this boy I like was checking me out!) so I am going to get started on this next chapter! Don't forget to vote on my profile!**


	4. Chapter 4: Scotland

**All right, this chapter is more of a filler. You get to learn a little bit more about Khadra and Hermione's relationship though. I also introduce Alan her fiance. It took one day to write this. It was raining so there wasn't much to do (even though its july and you don't normally get rainstorms in southern California). I have the rest of the story mapped out so there are gonna be like ten chapters. If you review I will be more motivated to write (I decided to start writing this because it was raining and i also got a review that lifted my spirits a bit).**

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By the time Hermione arrived to Scotland it was night-time. She grabbed her purse and stepped onto the lit up platform. After looking around for a few minutes, not sure where to go exactly, she heard her name being called. Turning around she saw Khadra waving to her. She walked over to where she was standing; when she got there the two immediately hugged and then started walking away from the platform.

"Khadra, it's so great to see you! How have things been?"

"Things have been great! When we apparate back to my house I will tell you everything that has happened since we last got together. Oh, look! We are at the apparation spot!" They had walked over to a dark alleyway away from the brightly lit platform full of muggles. The two hooked arms and Hermione instantly felt the pulling sensation that accompanied apparation.

When they landed Khadra led her over to the guest room that she had. It was a small yet modest room with a closet and its own bathroom attached. The warm brown tones on the wall brought a homey feel to the room. Khadra went to the kitchen to make tea while Hermione unpacked her belongings. Hermione reached into her purse-which had an undetectable extension charm-and pulled out the shrunken suitcase that contained her clothes. Using her wand, she returned it to its normal size and levitated her belongings into the dresser across from her bed. When that was done she went over to where Khadra was. The earthy tones that were in the guest room appeared around the rest of the house as well. She took a seat at the bar that was attached to the kitchen and waited for Khadra to come over with the tea so the two could catch up a bit.

"So Hermione, what happened to you and that boy you told me you were dating?" Khadra set a cup of tea down in front of Hermione.

"Well we had been dating for about six months I decided to break things off with him."

"Really? You seemed so happy with him..."

"I was happy with him but one day I overheard some girls at my work talking about him. It turns out that he started dating me because if some stupid bet. The worst part was that he had the audacity to lead me on for so long! I confronted him asking him if what they were saying was true and he didn't deny anything! I got fed up with all the lies that he had told me so I dumped his sorry arse and decided to move here and have a fresh start so that I don't have to see him and be constantly reminded that I was just a bet for him to pass the time with."

The emotions on Khadra's face ranged from sadness to pity to even rage. Khadra was now gripping her teacup tightly. A small glinting caught Hermione's eye. She reached out grabbed Khadra's left hand with a squeal.

"Hold on a second. Is this what I think it is? When did Alan propose to you?" The ring was a small one but still immensely beautiful. It had one emerald that was about two or three carats in the middle with smaller white diamonds surrounding it.

"Well, he proposed to me on my birthday. He took me to this fancy restaurant over in the next town and then afterwards he took me to the spot where we first met. He got down on one knee and then just poured his heart out to me. I was blubbering like an idiot and was barely able to tell him yes. Overall it was one of the sweetest things ever."

"I'm very happy for the two of you! So how come I have never met this fiancé of yours?"

"Hmm...I guess it's just been a while since we last got together and I hadn't been seeing him at the time. When did we last hang out without that murderous loon being involved somehow," Khadra asked.

"Well there are all the commemorative balls that they hold every year but otherwise I don't think we have had a chance to hang out. Unless you count that one week we were living together just after the war ended."

Both girls remember that day-and week- like it was yesterday. Voldemort had just been killed and shortly after the celebration that took place at Hogwarts Hermione went off to go and get Khadra and her parents from where they were hiding. Khadra, like Hermione, was a muggleborn witch so she was at the top of the kill list. Her family had been the next targets for Voldemort and his followers so Hermione found a hiding place for the family to reside in while the war was happening. The three had spent months with no contact from the outside world and only an occasional owl was sent or received when it was deemed safe by a patronus. Upon arriving at the safe house Hermione learned that one day Khadra's parents had left and never come back. Further investigation found that they had gone to a wizard nearby and asked to be obliviated. Now they had no recollection of even having a daughter and were living somewhere in the United States.

At first Khadra had been heartbroken but she realised that if she spent her entire life dwelling on the fact that her parents were now gone she would not be living a fulfilling life. They had left her a few belongings and their apartment that she had grown up in as a child; otherwise they took everything that they wanted. Hermione checks up on Mr and Mrs de Pomario from time to time to make sure that they are still okay. The two girls spent about a week living in Khadra's apartment tying loose ends and looking for places to live. It was then that Khadra had decided to move to Scotland. Hermione found her own apartment in muggle London just walking distance from Diagon Alley. She put up a charm so that when her wizard friends visited they can apparate in and out on the porch without being seen. Both of the girls had become very close and shared many interests; it was a sad time when it came time for Khadra to leave for Scotland.

"Well I guess we need to get together more often," she said breaking Hermione out of her flashback.

Hermione laughed, "It will certainly be easier now that I am living in Scotland. That reminds me; at around ten o'clock tomorrow do you want to help me look for a house?"

"Yeah, I would love to! Alan will be at training again so I will have nothing to do again."

"Ok, great. While we are on the subject, what is it that Alan is training for?" Hermione had heard about this fiancé of hers several times but she knew almost nothing about him.

"Well right now he is doing training to be a potion master. Once he is done with that he wants to apply to teach somewhere or be a tutor for purebloods and halfbloods. He always tells me that he has wanted to do this since he was little."

"He is a halfblood right? I think I remember you mentioning that to me during one of our phone calls."

"Yes he is a halfblood. He grew up in a muggle town not far from here so when we decided to move in together we chose a place close to home."

"That's interesting. What does he do in his spare time?"

"Since we live in a muggle town there is not much magically that we can do. Sometime after his schooling though he learned how to fix up cars. A few days a week he will help fix cars down at the town's car shop. Apparently he is one of the best mechanics in a ten mile radius."

"Wow. So how is your job going? Written any bestsellers lately?" Khadra was a stay at home writer. She currently had three books out in stores already that were mildly popular. She had a few other works being written currently and she hoped that they would become ugh demand books."

"Yeah I am almost finished with one of my books but-" Just then Alan walked through the door. Both girls looked up. Khadra stood up and greeted him with a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Hermione, this is my fiancé Alan. Alan this is one of my closest friends Hermione." Hermione got up to shake hands with him.

"Hello Alan, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Khadra has told me so much about you." Alan was a head taller than Hermione and he looked about twenty two or twenty three years old. Hermione also thought that he looked like a young Hayden Christensen.

"You're Hermione Granger right," he shook her hand lightly as he introduced himself, "Alan Rasmussen, and me the pleasure is all mine." She let go of his hand and blushed lightly like she always does whenever someone mentions her part in defeating Voldemort. Khadra walked into the kitchen and pulled out a few cans of soup so she could start on dinner.

"So Alan," Khadra's voice came from the kitchen as she was stirring the soup in a pot, "how was training today?"

"Difficult as usual, I'm just glad that I get to be back at home with my beautiful fiancé." He walked over to where she was standing and hugged Khadra from behind. Waving her wand so that the soup would mix itself she turned around so that she could kiss him. The young couple kissed, lost in their own world.

Hermione's heart lurched slightly at the sight of the young couple in love. It looks like she isn't entirely over Draco like she thought she was. It pained her to see so much happiness when her heart was still in little pieces inside her chest. She awkwardly cleared her throat to get Khadra's attention. They guiltily split apart.

"Khadra, I am still a little bit tired from the train ride up. I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Alan it was nice to finally meet you. Don't forget we are leaving around ten to go look at houses. Good night you two."

Hermione went into her bedroom and got into her pyjamas with a flick of her wand. She got into bed and summoned her book out of her purse. After unsuccessfully trying to read a few pages she put the book down. Her mind was occupied with all of her current problems. She turned off the light and fell into a fit full slumber.

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**So did anybody catch some of the references I made? OK maybe you didn't...what did you think of it? Write a review and give me your honest opinion about it. I may start writing the next chapter now but i warn you it won't be as long as this one. Don't forget to vote on my page! **


	5. Chapter 5: House Hunting

** Ok so since I am only sixteen I don't know much about buying houses. So just bear with me if I did the whole buying a new house thing wrong. Otherwise...enjoy the story! This chapter is dedicated to my lovely reviewers and of course my best friend (and practically my sister) Khadra!**

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Hermione heard a man calling to her off in the distance. She saw that she was on a beach. She followed the sound of the man's voice all the way to a rocky cliff. In front of her she saw Draco, looking as handsome as ever. He must have been the mysterious man calling her name. He beckoned to her and she walked up to him quickly, yearning to feel his arms around her again. The two embraced. She looked up at him begging with her eyes for him to lean and kiss her. He happily obliged closing the distance between their faces. They passionately kissed for a few minutes before Hermione decided to talk.

"What are you doing here?"

He laughed, "I came here to see my favourite girl."

"I had the weirdest dream last night. You were dating me because of a bet so I broke up with you and moved in with my friend Khadra. How weird does that sound?" He shifted around, looking anywhere but into her eyes, he looked uncomfortable.

"Hermione, darling; I hate to burst this bubble of bliss that we have right now but…that wasn't a dream it really happened." He backed away from her slightly afraid of what she was going to do and how mad she might be. Hermione's face instantly darkened, her good mood now gone as she stared at the man in front of her.

Almost immediately she stared yelling at him, "How could you? I thought this relationship meant something to you/1 I lay my heart out in the open and you go ahead and take advantage of my kind and forgiving nature! I trusted you! Draco Malfoy, you are a-a-'' At that moment powerful winds started up, controlled entirely by Hermione's magic and the temper that she was in right now. The sky gradually started darkening as well and soon the sky was almost black and the wind was getting stronger with the passing minutes. It appeared to be trying to push Draco off of the cliff.

They were a good distance away from the edge but with the strength of the gusts it was obvious that Draco wouldn't be there much longer. Her magic was out of control so now the storm was channelling all that anger to give it more power. Fear was evident in Draco's eyes. She kept repeating her name telling her to stop—his voice getting louder each time he said it.

At the last second Hermione realised what she was doing but it was too late to be able to stop anything. The powerful winds gave one final push and Draco teetered on the edge of the cliff before finally falling off the tall cliff his limbs flailing all over the place. What Hermione didn't know was at the bottom of that cliff were sharp rocks.

The winds then stopped as suddenly as they had started. She ran to the edge, there was no sight of him. There was only a large mound of sharp and dangerous rocks. She screamed 'Draco!' as loud as she could. There was no answer back. He was gone…

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Hermione shot up; now fully awake. Khadra was nest to her bedside—it looked like she had been trying to wake her up. It explained why Hermione's name was being repeated in her dream.

"Hermione, are you okay? You were thrashing around like you were having a terrible nightmare! Not to mention you kept saying the name Draco over and over again." Khadra looked at her friend with concern. Hermione knew that she had out two and two together and now realised that Draco was the guy that had broken her heart and caused her to move here.

"It's nothing, Khadra. Listen, we should probably get going soon. I'll just meet you in the kitchen when I'm ready to go," she nodded. Hermione could tell that Khadra hadn't bought the 'it's nothing' story at all. It was obvious that she would confront her at some point and would not let her get away with saying that it isn't bothering her.

Hermione reluctantly got out of bed and dressed for the day—she would wear something casual and comfortable for the warm October weather while house hunting. When she was dressed, had brushed her teeth, and managed to tame her bushy hair she joined Khadra in the kitchen.

Currently Khadra was talking on the phone with someone. Hermione walked over and stood next to her to see what she was looking at, the business card she held had tiny print on it but she could catch the word relator on it. Before she had managed to get a better look at what the smaller print said Khadra had finished her phone call and moved to put the little card in a drawer full of papers.

"There you are, Hermione. I just got off the phone with the lady who helped me find a house here. We have about fifteen minutes until we have to meet her at her office. Do you want to just head over now?" Hermione nodded as she went to go grab an apple from her fruit bowl. That would be good enough until lunchtime. The girls grabbed their purses and headed towards Khadra's blue Mercedes. Since Alan and Khadra lived in a muggle town it was hard to apparate during the day without getting caught.

About ten minutes later the girls found themselves outside of a quaint little relators shop. They walked inside and were immediately greeted by a short, stout, overly friendly woman who wore a nametag that said 'Debra Cristalsen' on it. She shook both of their hands.

"Hello ladies, how are we doing today? My name is Debbie and I will be helping you find you next dream home!" Hermione inwardly rolled her eyes. This woman acted like a muggle version of Umbridge!

Khadra luckily answered for them, "Hello, Debbie. We spoke on the phone earlier. I brought my friend Hermione who just came over from England. She is interested in hopefully living somewhere in town."  
The small woman turned her mega-watt smile from Khadra to Hermione. She clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Oh, goody! Come this way and we will go out to the cars to look at some of the houses and apartments we have available."

The three girls drove though the small town and even into the next town over. They made a quick stop for lunch around three and while Khadra and Hermione were eating Debbie was making calls to see what other places they could look at. They had seen apartments of all sizes and small houses as well as big houses. It wasn't until they were back in town that Hermione found the place for her. Debbie got a last minute call about a place that was able to be shown to them. They went over and the instant Hermione saw it she knew that this was the place where she could start her new life.

Unlike the other places that had been shown this place was a lot quainter. It was a cottage with a small window on each side of the front door. The cottage looked just like Snow White's cottage. The place was small enough that there wouldn't be too much extra space but it would also be big enough to raise a small family in when the time came.

Hermione turned to Debbie, "I'll take this place, please."

Debbie smiled and led the girls back to her car. When they arrived at her office she took them to her desk so Hermione could fill out the necessary paperwork. In just one day's time the cottage would officially be Hermione's! Before they left Debbie gave Hermione her business card just in case she needed to call and had any questions.

Both girls headed back to Khadra's house feeling quite tired. They both made just sandwiches before going to bed. Hermione was ready to pass out from exhaustion. As Hermione's head hit the pillow she hoped that she would not have a repeat of the dream she had the night before. In minutes she was asleep. Little did she know though that there was someone standing in the corner of her room and she was being watched at that very moment.

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**Sorry that this took so long to put up. I've been a bit busy for the past couple of days. My offer still stands on if you want to be a character in the story. Just leave a review and tell me what you think along with your name or something you go by. The poll on my profile will be closed at the end of the month and then i will have a different one for a story that i'm writing. I will have chapter 6 up by the end of today and i will definitely have this story finished very soon. Thank you to all the people that subscribed to me and my stories!**

** Tata for now!**

** sexy-ferret**


	6. Chapter 6: And the Plot Thickens

**So what did you think of last chapters little cliffy? This chapter is my longest one yet and took quite a long time to type. I have already started working on the next chapter and I may upload it after church but im not positive yet. In this chapter a mention England and its weather. Im sorry if I offend anyone that lives there with what i say but I have never been there before so I don't know much about how the weather is. Anyways here's the next chapter which is dedicated to Khadra (as always) and to my lovely reviewers**

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*Draco's P.O.V.*

Draco searched almost all over Scotland for Hermione and he still hadn't found her yet. If only he had made it to the train station on time! Then instead of watching her leave he could have convinced the stubborn witch to come home so they could rationally discuss everything.

He had been dumb to not tell her about the bet as soon as possible. Instead he said nothing like the coward he was and had lost the best thing to ever happen to him. Everything he saw during the day reminded him of her. It was slowly destroying his heart knowing that he may never find her or see her again.

Now he could always try visiting her dreams again but he didn't exactly know how that would end. Plus it isn't the same as seeing someone in person. He also didn't appreciate being thrown off a cliff by her. Of course he could choose a different location but she would probably find a different way to kill him. He also wasn't sure how much those dream visits were affecting her and if it was making her sad then he wouldn't visit her dreams.

Walking down the street lost in his own thoughts, his feet led him to Harry's house; 12 Grimmauld Place. Next thing he knew the door was being opened by Ginny and she led him to where Harry was working on some papers.

"Harry, Draco is here to see you," he looked up from the papers he had been writing on.

"Hello, Draco. May I ask why you are here/ Last thing I heard was that you were in Scotland on some kind of quick business trip." Even though he had made amends with all three of Hermione's friends, things were sometimes still a little tense between some of them. This was one of those moments.

"I wanted to know if you knew where Hermione moved to. I want to go over and apologize and tell her that I was an idiot for taking that bet in the first place. The only thing that bet did for me was win and then lose the most wonderful girl in the world." As soon as Hermione had left Draco had gone over to tell her three friends _why_ she had left so suddenly. At first they weren't very happy with what Draco had done but after putting him under the influence of Veritaserum to see how he really felt they weren't _as_ mad.

"Draco, as much as I hate to tell you this, I have no idea where Hermione is. She never told any of us her address. I should be getting an owl from her any day now. Since you obviously realise what a huge mistake you made with her I will promise you one thing after I see her. When we visit her I will get her to tell me the town name. I will owl you that and only that. Otherwise it is up to you to find her. Do you understand?" Draco nodded; it was more than he was ever expecting to get from Harry.

Thank you, Harry. I will let you get back to what you working on." With that he waved to the wizard and left to go and figure out _what_ he was going to say to Hermione when he got to see her.

*Hermione's P.O.V.*

While Draco was talking to Harry in London, Hermione was just waking up in Scotland. She sat up and stretched but as she did she saw a woman sitting on the edge of her bed. In an instant Hermione was standing up and had her wand pointed at the person. A few seconds later she lowered her wand in confusion, standing in front of her was the currently deceased Narcissa Malfoy! A few years ago Narcissa's life had come to a tragic end due to a gardening accident. Why was it that Narcissa's ghost was here then? And more importantly, why was she visiting Hermione and not her own son?

Before Hermione got a chance to say anything Narcissa started speaking, "Hello dear Hermione, I am sure you are wondering why I am here right now. When I died a few years back my spirit stayed behind so I could make sure that my little Draco would be happy and that he would find the girl that he wants to spend the rest of his life with. I'm here visiting you because I am positive that you are that girl. I know that sounds a little weird but I've seen how dating you has changed Draco. He has a certain glimmer in his eyes that was never there before. You have made his life worth living again. I think that if you were to go back—"

Hermione cut her off just then, "I am sorry to interrupt, Mrs Malfoy, but I just can't go back to him after what he did to me! He used me simply as a way to gain new things. I am sure he never had any real interest in me. I am completely over him now. Now I'm sorry to be so rude but I must get ready and be going because I have things to do today."

"Of course, dear. I understand completely. Before I leave though I just think about this: if my son had only used you for the bet then why did he date you for months after it was over and never even bother to collect the winnings. Also, I don't think you are completely over him yet because you say his name while you sleep." With that Narcissa left leaving Hermione more confused than ever.

She pushed what had just happened to the back of her mind and started to pack all of her clothes into her suitcase again. A half hour later Hermione was all packed up and the room looked just like it had when she had first got there. She then went into the kitchen with all of her shrunken luggage. Her purse was on the counter and she put everything into it. Going over to the fridge she decided to make a nice breakfast to thank Khadra for letting her stay there while she was looking for a house. Khadra came out of her room twenty minutes later, soon followed by Alan. By then Hermione had set out a small feast that consisted of eggs, French toast, fresh orange juice, pancakes, hash browns, and a bowl of fruit salad.

Alan started to talk to Hermione after he put some food on his plate, "So Hermione, are you going to need any help with putting your stuff into the cottage? It's my day off and Khadra and I could stop by and help you with unpacking everything."

"It's fine. I can probably handle unpacking everything and if I do run into some trouble I will just use my wand to help me unpack the rest."

"Okay then, just call us if you do need help with anything." The three feel into a comfortable silence as they finished breakfast. Time flew by so fast that the next thing Hermione knew she was apparating out of Khadra's house and into her empty cottage.

As soon as she landed she took all of the shrunken boxes out of her purse and returned them to regular size. The house had luckily come pre-furnished so Hermione wouldn't have to worry about having to go shopping later on. She set to work on unpacking all of the boxes. She was about a quarter of the way finished before she decided that it would just be easier to unpack with magic. She took out her wand and cast an unpacking spell on all of her stuff. In just a few minutes all of the boxes were officially unpacked.

When all of that was done she wrote a letter to Harry inviting him, Ginny, and Ron to come see her new house. On the note she also wrote instructions on how to floo into her house. Instead of sending the letter with her owl she transfigured one of the hair ties in her bathroom into a carrier pigeon that would carry the note so no one would question why she had an owl flying in and out of her house. The small bird was also charmed to know exactly where to go and to wait for a reply. She then went outside and pretended that the bird had simply flown into her house and that she was letting it go.

After she had let go of the bird and it flew off Hermione noticed a girl about her age walking up to her. She looked very excited to see Hermione.

She was about 5'5'' from where Hermione was standing and she could also see that the girl had shocking crimson coloured red hair. She looked like she was in shape from doing something like horseback riding and she was wearing a colourful sundress. When she got close enough Hermione could see that her eyes were a pretty cerulean blue colour.

"Hi there! You must be my new neighbour. My name is Ruby Selene Robbins, welcome to the neighbourhood!"

The girl had quite a bit of energy and it made Hermione smile widely. She seemed a little quirky but also very nice.

"Hi Ruby, my name is Hermione Granger and it's a pleasure to meet you. I just moved here from England and I'm glad to get such a warm welcoming already." Her eyes brightened up a little bit when Hermione mentioned England.

"I've been to England before! I went there a few years ago for a school trip! I wasn't too fond of the weather though."

"Yeah it does take a little bit of time to get used to but once you do England is one of the best countries in the world to visit. You said that you went there on a school trip; what school did you go to?"

She looked down at her feet momentarily, "I don't think you will have heard of it," she paused, almost reluctant to continue; as if it was a secret she was supposed to keep, "I went to a fancy boarding school in France called Beauxbatons. It so elite that no one has ever really heard of it and you aren't really allowed to talk about it.

Hermione's eyes widened when Ruby told her this. She wasn't the only witch in her neighbourhood! This piece of information made her even more excited and happy to have Ruby as a neighbour.

"You're a witch! Did you graduate around the same time that I graduated from Hogwarts? I thought for sure there wouldn't be many magical people in this town." Ruby looked slightly started when Hermione called her a witch but that expression changed when she realised that Hermione was a witch as well.

"Yeah, I went to the triwizard tournament in your fourth year. That means you are _the_ Hermione Granger! Wow! That's super exciting! Plus now I'm not the only witch here! We should get together and hang out sometime!"

Hermione thought about how nice it would be to have another friend to keep her company. She knew that her trips to London would be few and far between. At that moment her pigeon came back to deliver her friends' answer. She opened the letter and saw that all three would be able to come over that night!

"We should do that for sure! I have to get going because I have some friends coming over but I will definitely talk to you later. It was nice meeting you." The two said good bye and parted ways. Hermione started to make dinner for the four of them and while dinner was cooking she did some last minute cleaning. By the time she was done it was almost 6 o'clock. She decided to change out of her 'moving day' clothes (sweats and an old t-shirt) and into nicer, more casual clothes. Right as she finished getting ready she heard the sound of the floo and rushed out to see her friends.

Ginny tackled her as soon as the young witch came into the room. Once the two girls were done hugging, Hermione flung her at the boys; she hadn't seen them since they left for America months ago. She then led the group to the table where dinner was. Ron, being his typical self-dove right into the food. Everybody laughed at this.

"So what's new with everyone? Has anything exciting happened since I left?" Harry looked at Ginny who had an ear-to-ear grin at the moment. She looked super excited about something.

Ginny then turned to Hermione and said, "Harry proposed to me the other day! We're getting married!" The two girls chatted excitedly for a bit about the wedding details. Hermione would be the maid of honour and the wedding would probably take place during the summer but it wasn't entirely set in stone.

The two took a break from talking about the wedding to eat a little bit. Hermione then turned to Ron and asked him, "Has anything exciting happened to you, Ron?

He blushed a tiny bit, "Well, I asked out this girl that I met at auror training over in America. She also just moved to Britain a few days ago. I'm hoping that I may have found 'the one' this time."

Hermione offered her congratulations to all three of her friends. They talked about other things like George's new prank products he has been testing on his family, how Teddy is starting to use his metamorphmagus powers more and more each day, and how Mr Weasley leaves his muggle things around the house which drives Molly up the wall.

When dinner and dessert was over she gave them the grand tour of her cottage. There was a kitchen, a small bathroom, a dining room, and a living room on the first floor, and one large and three small bedrooms on the second floor. Once she was done showing them everything they just went into the living room and talked a little bit more.

Eventually though the three had to get going because they all had work in the morning. Ginny made Hermione promise to owl her at least once a week so they could talk about wedding planning. She hugged each one of them before they stepped into the floo one by one.

Before harry left he asked her a quick question, "Mione, what is the name of this town? It seems pretty remote."

Hermione racked her brain before she remembered seeing the town's name at the relator's office. "The town is called Sandwood Bay, Harry. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason really; I wanted to know just in case Molly asks where you moved to next time I see her at the Burrow. Well, I must be off now, see you again soon, Mione."

"Bye, Harry. I'll see you soon."

Once everyone was gone Hermione changed into her pyjamas grabbed her book to read by the fire she had lit in the fireplace after Harry left. It was only 9 o'clock so it wasn't too late yet. Ten minutes later she heard someone knock at her door. It made her wonder who it would be at this hor. She got up to answer it.

She only managed to get one word out when she opened the door.

"Draco!"

*Draco's P.O.V.*

He had been pacing around his study impatiently when Harry's owl came. He hurried to the window to open it. The owl flew onto the desk and as soon as Draco untied the letter it took off. He tore the seal of eager to read the inside. It only said to words on it

_ Sandwood Bay_

As soon as he read it he set off to look for something his father had given him years ago. He found it very quickly. He held the clothed object in his hand happy that he had decided to save it for a special occasion. In his hands was a one way portkey that could take a person anywhere in the world just so long as they say the name of the place out loud. He unwrapped the object—which was a snow globe—and said, "Sandwood Bay, Scotland." Immediately he was whisked off to the small town.

When he landed he didn't really have any idea _where_ he was supposed to go. He heard a voice—that sounded just like his dead mother—which seemed to be telling him where he should go. With nothing to lose he decided to follow the directions the voice gave him. Soon he found himself outside a small cottage. He walked up to the door hoping that the voice had given him the right directions. When he knocked he heard someone coming to answer the door. The first thing he saw when it opened was Hermione, his beautiful Hermione.

She gasped and said, "Draco!"

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**Okay well there's the chapter! I have only four more chapters left and then the story is done. Leave a review and tell me what you think. Remember if you wanted to be a character in any of my stories then leave your name and anything else that you would want me to put. Also don't forget to vote for what fairy tale my next story should be about. Oh...and for anyone that has read _A Chanced Meeting_: I will be adding more just not at this point i didn't forget about it though. **

** Tata for now!**

** sexy-ferret**


	7. Chapter 7: A Second Chance

**Wow I feel sooooo bad about waiting so long to update! In all honesty I have spent these past few days writing more of the story. I can guarantee that tomorrow I will have this entire story finished. I've put a new poll on my profile for those of you readers that liked _A Chanced Meeting_. The offer for being a character is still open so send a review with your name if you want to be written into my stories. This chapter is dedicated to Khadra(of course) and any of my other reviewers. Enjoy! BTW sorry its a little short I promise the next one will be longer...**

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As soon as she said his name he put a silencing charm on her, which pissed her off immensely. What makes him think he can just come here and start casting spells on her without permission? Before she could slam the door in his face to try and figure out a way to return her voice he put his foot in the way.

He started to talk, " Now hear me out, Hermione. I wanted to be able to tell you what I needed to say without interruptions. If I take off the silencing charm will you let me say everything that I want to say to you?"

Reluctantly she nodded yes. He took the charm off of her, "I'll listen to what you say to me on one condition: you can say what you want but you have to take Veritaserum first. I have some in my medicine cabinet for emergencies."

"Whatever it takes to get you to listen to me Hermione." She went up the stairs and off into the direction of her room to go and get the potion. He followed her inside and after shutting the door behind him he sat down on the couch waiting patiently for her to return. Moments later she came back down the stairs and into the room with a small vial with a clear liquid in it.

She went over to where he was sitting and told him to open his mouth. He did what he was told and she poured the clear liquid into his mouth. As soon as she saw him swallow she started asking him questions to make sure the potion worked.

"What's your full name?"

He answered with no hesitation, "Draco Lucius Malfoy."

"What is carved onto my left arm?"

"Mudblood," when he said this there was pain in his eyes. He obviously hated saying that word.

"Did you go out with me because of a bet between you and your coworkers?"

"Yes I did."

"What were the parameters of the bet?"

"I had to take you out on a date at least once a week for two months straight. If I did that then I won a rare one of a kind firewhiskey and some money as well. If I failed to take you out for those two months then my coworkers were allowed to take one thing of choice out of the Malfoy vault. I had made this bet one night after we had gone out drinking to celebrate someone's birthday. Had I been sober I definitely wouldn't have made the bet. Since almost everything in that vault is priceless I couldn't afford to lose that bet."

"Why did you date me for longer then the necessary deadline? Was it to get back at me for all the times that I bested you in school?"

"At first it was because I just wanted to win the bet. By the time the two months ended though I really had fallen for you. My friends told me that I could collect my winnings but by then I didn't want to. I know that I should have told you about the bet but I was scared of your reaction. I kind of figured that if you never found out about the bet then everything would be just fine. Then you found out about it and suddenly I was scared to lose the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I tried to get you at the train station but I was too late. I have been looking all over Scotland for you. You don't know how happy I am that I finally found you. Now all I want is a second chance to prove to you that I really do care about you."

Hermione's eyes were tearing up by then end of his confession. Narcissa had been right about both things she said. Draco did really care about her and Hermione definitely wasn't over him. The epiphany regardless, she was still hesitant to give him a second chance. The last thing she needed was to end up being more hurt than before.

His voice cut through her thoughts, "So what do you say, Hermione? Can I take you out on a date and show you that i do have good intentions?"

She hesitated slightly, "...I guess so...but this is your last chance."

He smiled widely, "Thanks for giving me a second chance! I won't mess this up at all. I promise; if this doesn't work then I'll leave you alone and never bug you again."

He stood up quickly;obviously excited to plan out their 'perfect dare.'

"Draco?" he looked back at her, "When is our date going to be?"

"Oh...right...the date...um how about tomorrow night at 6:30?" She nodded her approval and walked him to the door. He stepped outside onto the porch. Earlier that day she had put charms in it do that no muggle could see wizards do magic on the porch. Before he apparated away he gave her a quick wink and then was gone with a 'pop.'

By the time Draco had left it was only 9:30. It wasn't too late so Hermione decided to call Khadra and tell her everything that had happened that night.

She picked up her cell phone- her house phone had yet to be installed again- and dialed Khadra's phone number. After a few rings she heard someone pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Khadra had been the person who picked up the phone.

"Khadra? It's Hermione. You are not going to believe what just happened. You remember me telling you all about Draco when I first came to Scotland? Well he just showed up at my door asking for my forgiveness and telling me his exact feeling for me. What should I do? I mean I don't want to end up getting hurt again..."

Khadra paused for a second before answering, trying to come up with the perfect solution for her friend. He had hurt her enough already and she didn't want the same thing happening again.

"In my opinion I would give him a second chance but he would have to work for it. He needs to prove to you that he really cares about you and that you are the bet damn thing that has ever happened to him."

"Maybe you're right...I think that I will do just that. Thank you do much for the help Khadra. I don't know what I would do without you! I'll definitely call you after our date to tell you how everything went. Talk to you soon!"

"Okay. You're welcome Hermione. Talk to you later!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

Hermione hung up the phone. The day's events had finally caught up to her and when she went to bed she fell into a peaceful and deep sleep, ready to face what the next day would bring her.

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**So what did you think? Leave a review (good or bad it doesn't really matter to me) and tell me what you think. I'm going to the fair tomorrow so I will probably write a one shot while im waiting in line and riding on the Ferris wheel-the fair seems like a good place to find some inspiration. Don't forget to review and I will post the next chapter later tonight.**

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** sexy-ferret**


	8. Chapter 8: Draco's Final Chance

**Here it is just like I promised. I'm going to finish writing the rest of the story and then get up early tomorrow before the fair and type everything up. There's one scene in here that I had a lot of trouble writing and I'm not really sure how good it is. Leave a review and tell me your opinion about this chapter. This chapter is dedicated to all my lovely readers and my almost sister Khadra! Enjoy!**

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Hermione woke up early the next morning in a good mood. It was the happiest she had been in a while. As soon as she got up she went to her desk to owl Ginny to tell her what had happened and to ask for her help later when she would have to get ready. When she finished writing the letter she looked over it to make sure it sounded alright.

_ Dear Ginny,_

_ You'll never guess who found me last night! Right after you guys left Draco showed up. I gave him some Veritaserum and he told me how he felt and how he didn't take the prize he won! He asked for a second chance so I told him that he had one more shot. We have a date tonight at 6:30. Do you think you could drop by and help me get ready? Owl me back your answer when you get this. I'll be at home all day today so drop by at anytime. _

_ Love,_

_ Hermione_

_ P.S. While you're here we can also start talking about wedding details!_

She sent the letter off with her owl that had a disillusionment charm on it for muggles and went into the kitchen to have breakfast. Just as she was sitting down to eat her oatmeal there was a knock on her door. When she opened her door there was nobody there. She looked down at the doorstep and saw a huge bouquet of roses with a note attached.

She picked up the vase and put the arrangement in her kitchen. She took the small note off of the flowers to read what it said.

_ Hermione,_

_ There's more to come later today. Hope you enjoy these flowers. I remembered that roses were your favourite. _

_ Love,_

_ Draco_

She smiled at what the note said. She couldn't believe that he remembered what her favourite flowers were. Hermione then sat down to eat her breakfast which was now slightly cold. By then it was 8:30. After breakfast the next hour was spent doing some more housework, finally connecting her phone, and doing laundry.

Soon there was nothing left to do except read and wait for her friends reply. She was currently rereading _Pride and Prejudice_, her all time favourite novel. By the time she was three pages into it she was lost in her own world. She had just reached her favourite part- when elizabeth first meets mr Darcy- two owls came to her windowsill.

One of the owl had a letter tied to its leg. The other was carrying a small lumpy bag. The owl with the bag dropped its parcel as soon as it landed. The remaining owl held its leg out waiting for Hermione to untie the letter. Once she pulled the string undone the owl flew back to where it came from.

Hermione decided to read the letter before looking to see what was in the bag. It was a reply from Ginny.

_ Hermione,_

_ I would love to come over and help you get ready for your date tonight! Just so you know (and don't make a huge deal or freak out about this) Harry was the one who told Draco you were here. The poor man stopped by our place yesterday morning and pretty much begged Harry to help him find you. By the way, before I forget to tell you this, Harry and I chose a date for the wedding. It will be on June 16th next summer. I will be coming over around two and I better not see you reading when I come over. We both know you've done enough reading to last you a few lifetimes! See you in a bit, Hermione!_

_ Ginny_

Hermione wasn't as upset as she thought she would be with Harry. He was only trying to help his friend which she understood completely. Besides, it was kind of sweet of Draco to come to Harry for help. She knew how much he hated asking for anyone's help, this was a big step for him.

The small bag was still on the table so she picked it up and opened it. Inside were two small boxes and a tiny, rectangular shaped package. As soon as she dumped the all three of the objects out of the bag they returned to regular size. She picked up one of the boxes that was about the size of her hand. When she opened it, she gasped; inside was a multicolored diamond tennis bracelet that was constantly catching light. There was no note but she knew exactly who it was from. Obviously she was meant to wear this on her date later that night.

The next box was slightly larger than the last package. When she opened it there was a short note on top of whatever was in the box. She took it out to read what it said.

_ This hair clip is a portkey that will take you to my place at 6:25. Make sure that you're wearing it or else you will miss not only this portkey but also the one at my house that will take us to where we are going at 6:30. Can't wait to see you tonight. _

_ Draco_

She set this aside for when Ginny and over later. The clip had an exotic flower on it and Ginny would know just how to incorporate it into her hair. Hermione's eyes left the hair clip and went straight to the last package.

It looked like a book and when she picked it up it also felt heavy like a book. She unwrapped the paper slowly but what was inside made her freeze almost instantly. Draco had sent her a first edition book of _Pride and Prejudice_. With great care she opened the book and almost dropped it when she took a look at the inside cover. Not only was it a first edition but it was a signed first edition! She now owned a book signed by her all time favourite author!

Just as she was about to start reading the book her doorbell rang. Reluctantly she put the book down and went to answer the door. She opened it and saw Ruby standing there.

"Hey, Ruby! What's up?" She saw that Ruby was holding a bag of take-out.

"Hey, Hermione! I was in the next town over doing some errands when I decided to go ahead and grab some lunch. There's enough here for the two of us if you'd like to join me."

"Sure! Why don't you come in and we can have some lunch here. I have a friend coming over in an hour if you want to meet her." She nodded and followed Hermione inside to the kitchen. The two girls sat down at the table and chatted while they ate. They learned that they actually had a lot in common. Both of them loved cooking, reading, writing, and their favourite food is chocolate-anything chocolate. Hermione also told her all of her stories about her adventures at Hogwarts. Ruby was in hysterics as Hermione told her all about Ron, Harry, and hers' adventures throughout the years. She was in the middle of telling her about the time the centaurs took Umbridge away when Ginny came through the floo.

"Hey Hermione, where are-Oh! There you are! Who's this?" She looked shocked to see Ruby at the table.

"Oh, hey Ginny! This is my neighbour, Ruby. She is a witch just like us; we were having some lunch and chatting while I waited for you to arrive."

Ruby and Ginny shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Ruby then said goodbye to Hermione and Ginny and left to go and run some more errands. Hermione told her that she would probably be stopping by after her date to tell her how it went. After she was gone Hermione showed Ginny all of the present that Draco had gotten her.

Ginny squealed when she saw them, "Wow, Hermione! These are so pretty! I can't believe that he bought you a diamond bracelet!"

"Neither did I! Plus he got me a signed copy of my all time favourite book!" Ginny rolled her eyes; leave it to Hermione to be more excited about a book than expensive jewelry.

"Ok, Hermione. We have about three or four hours to get you ready for your date tonight. Trust me when I say this: by the time I'm done with you you'll look like a princess."

The two started to walk up the stairs before Hermione said, "Don't forget the hairclip Ginny. That's my portkey to the date." She ran back down the stairs and grabbed both the bracelet and the hair clip. The two then went into Hermione's room.

The next few hours were spent doing a variety of things. Ginny managed to tame her hair, she convinced Hermione to actually wear makeup on this date, and she also found the perfect dress for Hermione to wear.

Hermione's hair was pulled up into a partial waterfall with the flower holding everything in place. The rest of her hair fell down in soft ringlets. The dress she wore was a dark navy blue colour. It was strapless and fell down to mid-thigh. It had a bow tied right under the bust and the entire skirt was had a sheer chiffon covering. It clung to her in all the right places and the colour complimented not only her skin tone but also the flower in her hair which Ginny had charmed into a pristine, crisp white colour.

Her makeup was simple but did wonders to her complexion. The brown eyeliner made her eyes pop and a light coating of lipstick gave her a desirable shade of luschious pink lips.

It was almost time for Hermione to leave by the time Ginny was done. During that makeover period the girls had figured out a few of the wedding details. They had figured out the colour scheme, who her bridesmaids would be, the bachelorette party and when the bridal shower would be.

Ginny handed Hermione her shoes and purse. As soon as she slipped on the heels she felt the tugging and soon she was pulled away from her home. When her vision cleared she found herself standing in the main hall of Malfoy manor.

Draco was standing there speechless. It was a few moments before he spoke, "Wow, Hermione. You look...absolutely beautiful."

She blushed at the compliment, "Why thank you, Draco. I must say you look rather charming yourself." He walked over to her and handed her a large bouquet of flowers. She took them from him with a smile and then vanished them to her house.

"So where exactly are we going?" He held out his arm for her.

"That, my dear, is a surprise." Right next to him was a small table that had a golfball on it. As soon as she took his arm he picked up the ball and held it tightly. Only a few seconds later they were whisked away to the mystery location. The couple had landed in a dark, empty alleyway.

"Draco, where are we?" They walked out of the alleyway onto a busy city street.

"We're in muggle London. First we will be going to dinner at one of your favourite restaurants and then we are going to go see a movie at the cinema. "

He led her into one of her favourite restaurants: Ravello. It was a nice Italian restaurant and her favourite dish there was the risotto ai fungi porcini; which was exactly what she had ordered.

As soon as their server, Kaitlyn, left the two started to talk a little bit.

"So Hermione, what did you think of the book I sent you? I remembered the time that you had told me that was your all time favourite book. I happened to just have that book lying around so I figured you would probably appreciate it more then me."

"I absolutely loved it! I didn't think you would had that book let alone own a signed first edition. It was one of the best gifts I've ever received!"

"Well you deserve only the best. How are you liking your new life in Scotland?"

When he asked this Hermione launched into a tale about her friends in Scotland. In the middle of her telling Draco about the real estate lady that acted like Umbridge-their food came. Draco had ordered the same thing as Hermione and it looked like he was enjoying it. They decided to skip dessert and after Draco paid the two left to go to the movie.

"You know what Draco? I'm having a fabulous time right now!" He grabbed he hand as they walked down the street.

"So am I. The best part is the night is still young."

Up ahead of them was a small group of young men. As Hermione brought her free arm up to move her hair the bracelet Draco bought for her caught their eyes. Being too focused on her conversation with Draco, she didn't notice one of the men casually kick a rock into her path. She tripped on the rock and almost snapped the heel of her shoe. As she bent down to fix the shoe-both hands were now free and focused on fixing the shoe-one of the other men grabbed her.

She was pushed up into his chest, "Hey there, pretty girl. That's a nice bracelet you got. Must have cost quite a pretty penny."

Draco turned back and moved to grab Hermione. As soon as he took a step the man holding Hermione took out a gun and pointed it at her back.

"Don't make a move pretty boy or your girl here gets shot. Now princess why don't you give me that there bracelet and we can be done here."

"Over my dead body you creep," with that she stomped on his foot hard and when his grip on her loosened she wrenched herself away and ran as fast as she could with an almost broken shoe.

She heard the sound of a gun being loaded and then the gunshot but she never felt the impact of the bullet that was aimed at her. When she looked back all she saw was Draco on the ground and the group of men running in the opposite direction.

Hermione gasped and ran over to where Draco was on the ground. She saw him roll onto his side so that he wouldn't be facing down face first. What she saw almost made her scream. There was a large pool of blood underneath him and she could see a dark red spot on his shoulder where the bullet had gone in. Panic was starting to settle in.

"Somebody call an ambulance, quickly!" Since they were in a place where muggles were everywhere she couldn't just take out her wand to heal him. Instead she tried to keep him conscious while they waited for the paramedics to get there.

"Draco! Can you hear me? I need you to stay with me! Please, I can't lose you again!"

"Her-my-nee...I-I..." He was awake but the fluttering eyes told her he was fading fast.

"C'mon, Draco! You can't die on me. I won't allow it! Whatever you do don't close your eyes!" The pool of blood was now bigger even though Hermione had tried to put pressure on the gunshot wound. Just then the paramedics arrived.

They lifted him up onto a stretcher and started to put him in the ambulance. Hermione tried to come in but she was stopped by one of the EMTs.

"I'll just meet you at the hospital Draco. Please don't die. I don't know what I would do with myself if you did."

The doors closed and the ambulance sped away quickly. There was a hospital about a mile away so she apparated as close as she could get without being seen and went into the ER waiting room to wait for news on Draco.

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**I know I'm a horrible person for doing that to Draco. Leave a review and tell me how you feel. Also don't forget to vote if you are also reading _A Chanced Meeting. _Only two chapters left and I'm not really sure how long they will be (not as long as this one but hopefully they'll be long). I promise that things only get better from here. Thanks for reading this and sticking with my story!**

** Tata for now!**

** sexy-ferret**


	9. Chapter 9: Confession Time

**Well here's the second to last chapter! I may not be able to get the epilogue up right now but it will be up today or really early tomorrow. I like to try and keep my promises. Im going to be leaving for the fair in about a half hour. This is dedicated to Khadra and all my lovely readers and the people that review!**

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Hours passed and Hermione still hadn't heard any new on Draco's condition. The police had already left after they got all the information they could from Hermione. She had called Ginny almost as soon as the policemen left and now she and Harry were with her in the waiting room.

At the moment it was just the two girls as Harry had gone down to the cafeteria to get everyone some coffee.

"Hermione, you need to calm down and stop pacing. I'm sure that Draco is fine and they are just doing some surgery to get the bullet out and make sure nothing is permanently damaged."

"I know that but I have nothing to occupy my mind so it's wandering and imagining bad scenarios. I wish Harry would hurry up!" Hermione was pacing around the room too anxious to relax. After a few minutes of thinking Ginny came up with a way to distract Hermione.

"Hermione, why don't you send Khadra a letter by owl to fill her in on what's happening? That should give you something to do."

Harry came back with the coffee and as soon as Hermione grabbed it she was out the door. She called back to her friends, "Come get me if you get any news about how he is doing!"

**Draco's P.O.V. **

When Draco woke up all he felt was a sharp pain on his shoulder. In the background there was an annoying beeping sound. He tried to sit up but found it impossible to do.

At that moment a woman dressed in white came hurrying in to check on him. She started checking all of his vital and asking for his name and information to put onto the computer.

He spoke, "Is there a girl out there waiting in a navy blue dress? There might also be a man with black messy hair and glasses waiting with her."

"I believe that there is such a girl out there. Would you like me to send her in? You are stable now so I think it would be okay for you to have some visitors."

She started to leave but he stopped her, "How do you move the bed so you can sit up?"

The nurse gave him a little remote to control the bed and then she left to go and get Hermione for Draco.

**Hermione's P.O.V. **

As soon as she had come back into the waiting room a nurse came up to her. Hermione hoped that Draco was alright and that the nurse wasn't coming to bring her bad news.

"Are you here for a Mr Malfoy?"

She nodded, "Am I able to see him now? He is okay right?"

"Follow me this way," Hermione was led down a hallway, "he is perfectly fine but I don't think he will have a future of being a sports player anytime soon. The bullet did slight damage to his deltoid so he won't be able to do much heavy throwing with his arm."

By then they had reached Draco's room. She walked in and found him fiddling with the remote to his bed making it go up and down. This made her chuckle a little bit.

The nurse spoke, "Mr Malfoy your visitor is here. Don't be too long because you need your rest." He looked up at Hermione and smiled. She smiled too. Quietly the nurse left the room.

When the nurse left Hermione ran up to Draco's bedside. He grabbed her hand and gave it a kiss. Already there were tears forming in her eyes just from looking at him in this state.

"How did you get shot? The man was aiming for me." Hermione took a seat in the chair next to his bedside.

"Originally the man _had_ been aiming for you. When I saw what he was going to do I stepped in the way of the gun. By then he had shot the bullet and when he saw it hit me the group of men started running."

Her voice was thick with tears, "Why did you step in front of the gun? You almost got yourself killed. Why almost kill yourself for me?"

He chuckled at this, "I wasn't going to let the one girl I love the most die before me when I could have done something about it. I did it because you are the one beacon of light in my dark meaningless life. You mean way too much to me."

Now Hermione was openly crying. She had no idea that he would ever think of doing such a thing for her. It made her feel good and bad at the same time. In a moment of pure action she leaned over, grabbed his face, and kissed him. The kiss was gentle, since he was still hurt, but it still portrayed all of her feelings at the moment. He lifted his hand up to her face and started to stroke her cheek. Eventually they broke apart.

"So am I forgiven for what I did last week?"

She nodded, "I forgive you for what you did. You convinced me that you aren't a bad guy at all. How about we start over and forget about everything that has happened. You can even come live with me at my cottage in Scotland; there's more than enough room there."

"I would love to come live with you. I don't think I could bear being so far away from you."

The nurse came back in, "Mr Malfoy I'm afraid you guest will have to leave for now. You need your rest if you want to heal properly."

Hermione gave Draco one final kiss before she followed the nurse back out to the waiting room. When she got there the group of people seemed to have grown. Not only was Harry and Ginny there but also Ron, his girlfriend, Alan, and Khadra. Hermione saw Khadra and ran to give her a hug.

"Hey, Hermione. How are you holding up? Is Draco okay?"

"Yeah he's fine now. He just has a little bit of damage to his deltoid but nothing that _we_ can't fix. Oh! Guess what? We made up! I forgave him and he's even going to come live in Scotland with me."

"Wow! That's wonderful! I have some more good news for you then. How would you like to be my maid of honour?"

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I would be delighted to be your maid of honour!"

The two girls chatted and eventually Ginny came over and joined them. She was filled in on everything and all three were squealing by the time she was caught up. Life couldn't get any better for Hermione; she got her boyfriend back, she was staying in Scotland, and she was going to be maid of honour in the wedding of her closest friends. Things were definitely looking up.

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**Well there it is! Im halfway done with the epilogue so it will take a miracle to get it up right now. Leave your name if you want to be a character. You know the drill leave a review vote on the poll and that's about it. i will be writing a one shot today also.**

** Tata for now!**

** sexy-ferret**


	10. Chapter 10:What Happened After

**Here's the epilogue! Its a miracle i finished it! This is for khadra my best friend in the whole world and all my lovely readers! Enjoy! leave a review!**

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*1 year later*

Khadra's wedding had been a blast. She looked absolutely stunning in her dress and was smiling the entire time. Almost everyone was in tears by the time the couple's vows were over. Alan and Khadra were truly a match made in heaven.

The reception had been lovely as well and it ran very late. Hermione and Draco had stayed until the end. As soon as it was over they apparated back to Hermione's cottage.

"You look so beautiful tonight, Hermione." Draco walked over to his girlfriend and gave her a sweet kiss.  
"Draco, sweetie, you've been telling me this almost all night."

"Yes, I know. But for some reason you look exceptionally beautiful. There's something that I want to do right now." He stepped away and got down on one knee.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat, "Hermione jean granger, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you. You are the light in my life and my reason for living I know that after all I've done I don't deserve you. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

She couldn't speak so she just nodded yes. He slipped the ring on her finger and the two happily kissed

*5 years later*

"Dante, Scorpius, come on downstairs to open your presents!"

Both Khadra and Hermione had three year old boys. They were born only a few weeks apart so the two families would always celebrate their birthdays together. The two boys were troublemakers and the best of friends. Alan and Draco had also become friends and constantly went to Quidditch games together.

"Before the boys open their presents I have an announcement to make," Draco's voice cut through the boys' excited chatter. "Okay so this has been planned for quite a while but I was finally able to get a green light. We're going to move back to England!"

Scorpius and Dante burst into tears. They didn't want to move away from each other!

"Don't cry Dante. We are going to be moving with them to England." Alan's voice came out over the cries and the sobbing stopped almost instantly.

Hermione spoke up, "As long as we are making announcements I have one. I'm having another baby!"

Khadra went over to her and hugged her. Scorpius and Dante ignored them and went to open their presents.

Draco went over to Hermione, "And to think this all started with a silly bet."

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**Sorry its so short! I might lengthen it later! leave a review and tell me what you think. i will have a one shot up later tonight!**

** Tata for now!**

** sexy-ferret**


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